Improvement in ballng-presses



HENRY W. BAUMANN, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

iNiPRVEMENT IN BALING-PRESSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. llLQSB, dated August12, 1873; application filed August 10, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W. BAUMANN, of the city of Memphis, in thecounty of Shelby and State of Tennessee,have invented certainImprovements in Ealing-Presses, of which the following is aspecification:

My invention relates to that class of presses which employ a system ofcompound rhombic levers operated by a movable double nut or knuckle-joint actuated by a right and left threaded screw, revolved,preferably, by a crank, or by two cranks, for the purpose of pressing orof compressi g cotton, hay, or other produce or material.

Figure lis a horizontal section of a machine embodying my inventiontaken on the line A B of Fig. 2 or C I) of Fig. 3, and showing thatportion of the machine below the lines. Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal section taken on the lines EF of Fig. l and G H of Fig. 3,and showing that portion of the machine which is at the left of G H ofFig. 3, and which is above the line E F of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a verticaltransverse section taken on the line I K of Fig. l and G H of Fig. 2,and showing that portion of the machine which is to the left ofthe linesI K of Fi g. l and G H of Fig. 2.

L is the base or bed sill, as ordinarily found in baling-presses, towhich is preferably fixed a metal bed-plate, M, from or through whichrise the four posts N, composing, with the necessary or usual crosspieces O, the usual frame of the ordinary baling-press with the usualbale-box I? and bale-bed or bed-box P', doors, and other essentialparts, as heretofore constructed and arranged, and too well known toexperts to require minute description, the posts bearing on their topcross-pieces O the top plate Q, preferably of metal, secured tight andrigid to the bed-plate M by the four rods R, passing two through eachend of the top plate and the bed-plate, and provided with heads at oneend, and at the other with screwthreads working directly in the plateitself, whereby, by the revolution of the rod itself, the two plates aredrawn tightly together, or having screw-nuts on the outer or upper sideof the top plate, whereby to produce the same effect. These rods R servealso a purpose,

more essential to the operation of my invention, in acting asguide-rods, on which are placed the traveling nuts U, through whichpasses` the ri ght-and-left-threaded screw T, which is the means bywhich power is applied to my system of compound levers. Upon thepower-screw T, and upon the right and left of its middle, andconsequently, respectively, on a right and a left threaded screw, arethe double nuts or knuckle -joints S, made, by reason of the femalescrew within them, and the revolution of the power-screw T workingtherein, to slide or travel upon the screw toward or from the middle,according to the direction ofthe revolution of the screw. Upon a flangeon each side of these knuckle-joints S, and both above and below thepower-screw T, are pivoted the levers V andW. The levers V, rising abovethe knuckle, cross each other, and are pivoted together at their pointofintersection V', which point is, for the obvious advantage of anincreased leverage, considerably nearer to the ends V of the levers Vmost distant from the knuckle pivot X than to the knuckle-pivot itself.At the remote end of each lever V is pivoted a short lever or halfllever, Y, its other end pivoted again in a stirrup-nut, Z, fixedsecurely, by bolts or otherwise, to the top plate Q, the supportingpivotcoinciding vertically with the middle pivot V of the levers V.

The arrangement of this system of levers may be more easily understoodby reference to what is known to experts as lazy-tongs.7

Below the power-screw T this system of levers is exactly repeated, butin a vertically reversed positionthat is, the long arm of the main leverVis upward from the center pivot instead of downward, and still nearestto the powerscrewand the stirrup-nut Z is changed in its character to astanding nut, Z, affixed to the follower or packing-block A A, as foundin ordinary baling-presses. The parts B B, extending up above the top ofthe balebox, serve as guides to the follower in its passage down intothe box, and may be dispensed with. Upon the top of the follower is astraddler7 or guide, G C, its feet resting, respectively, upon eitherend of the follower, and secured thereto, while its central portion',rising considerably above the follower, is provided with a slot, I) D,running vertically or at right angles with the base of the guide andwith the under side of the follower, through which slot extends thelower central pivot V Vf, elongated for this purpose, by which means thestraddler, rising or falling with the follower to which it is affixed,is, by reason of this pivot pressing on one side or the other of theslot, kept in its normal upright position, thereby controlling thedesirable horizontal position of the follower for the purpose ofproducin g a shapely bale. E E are cranks by which to revolve thepower-screw T, operated by hand; and suspended from the traveling nuts Uby the rods F F are the platforms G Gr, on which stand the operators,which platforms or carriages, traveling up or down with the nut fromwhich suspended, together with the screw T passing through the nut, andthe crank attached to and revolving` the screw, the operator is keptalways in his same proper relative position to his crank.

I use preferably the crank, as shown, but it is evident that therevolution of the powerscrew may be effected by a windlass, or by apendulous lever operated by hand, or by any well-known suitable powerapplied in any suitable well-known manner.

To prepare to operate my machine, I revolve the power-screw T in suchdirection as to raise the follower-block until it shall clear thebalebox and leave free access at its top. Then, having arranged thebagging or other covering or protection of the bale to be made, I placewithin the bale-box, at itstop, the cotton or other matter to be packed,which during the placing therein, I cause to be properly distributedwithin the box, and, in a preliminary way, packed and tramped under footuntil a supposed suhcient quantity shall have been tramped within thetop line of the box or thereabout, when I pla-ce thereon or arrangeabout the bottom and sides of the follower the top cloth, all as is nowordinarily done in baling cotton. The material and its cover beingarranged, I revolve the power-screw in its operative direction, which isthe reverse of the progressive direction of its screw-threads, indicatedby the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3. By this revolution theknuckle-joints S are acted on by the threads of the power-screw Tworking therein, and are forced toward the middle of the screw T. Thelevers, closing on the center pivot V', are pressed togetherhorizontally and reciprocally elongated vertically, and the consequentvertical thrust, resisted by the stationary fixed top plate Q, iscxpended below upon the follower-block A A so as to press or to compressdown through the bale-box, and compactly in the bale-bed or bed-box P',where it is secured in the usual manner, and the bale so completed. Inow reverse the motion of the screw so as to raise the follower from thebale for its removal, which motion I continue until the follower, raisedfrom the box, clears its top so as to give access thereto for placingother material for a second bale. 1

I do not claim as my invention a system of compound rhombic levers, orof levers arranged in a manner similar to lazy-tongs, for I am awarethat this is not new; but

I claim as my invention- .1. The combination, in a baling-press, of afollower, toggle-levers, a right-and-left-hand screw, the cross-head,and a platform suspended from the cross-head so that the operator cantravel up or down with the screw and operate it with greater facility,substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a baling-press, of a right-and-left-hand screw,the double togglelevers, the follower, and the slotted guide attached atits base rigidly to the follower, and guided trim by an elongatedpivot-of the toggle-levers, which it straddles, all these parts beingconstructed and combined to operate substantially as described.

H. WV. BAUMANN.

Witnesses:

S. A. MOORE, J. E. FRos'r.

